Adirondack chair: part 1

Oh boy, i may have bitten off more than i can chew. After a couple easy wine barrel stave candle holders, i decided to give an adirondack chair a shot. With some rough measurements and pictures i found on the web, i took my first stab today. First, i realized this project will use almost an entire barrel. 17 staves i think. It’s going to be HEAVY. First i layed out the staves for each part of the chair. Most of the day was spent putting the chair back together, and then assembling one of the sides.

Barrel staves don’t have any square sides. Everything is angled and curved which makes cutting and joining pieces tricky. Some of the piecesi screwed together don’t sit perfectly flush. Not sure what i can do to fix that or if it’s even a big deal. Also i didn’t sand anything yet and i’m wondering if i should have. I guess i could always take it apart later if needed to get into the corners. Again, maybe not a huge deal. I hope this thing is sturdy when it is done. I’m not really sure how the seat back gets enough support yet.

Hi, I just wanted to “cheer you on”! I too recently got a wine barrel and have had a lot of fun making wine balancers, butlers, candle holders and sawdust. (interesting “toasted” sawdust, and wine stained sawdust!) I also tried making a plant stand, but it’s on hold until I figure out some “angle issues”! It’s been fun and I enjoyed looking at your projects!

Don’t get too worried about the flush surfaces. It is easier to sand the staves before you assemble the chair. I also round off the edges with my router table and a 1/4 in. round-over bit. I had layoff but have made three chairs in the past couple of months. The more you do, the easier it gets. Let me know if you have any questions.